Versus
by Johnny51.Face
Summary: A feminist writer follows Paramedics DeSoto and Gage for a week, determined to write a story that will inspire woman's lib and equal rights. Will the libbest's stubborness or Roy and John's belief in the rule of 'no females being firefighters' win out?
1. Weakness

**Disclaimer: I do not own Emergency!. I also do not own the complete idea for this story, which was somewhat derived from both the Emergency! episode called _Women_, and also I gained a few ideas from the anime show and manga called _Kaichou wa Maid-Sama_. This story is set somewhere near the end of 1st season of the tv series. **

* * *

_Chapter 1: Weakness_

"Sis, wake up!" Cassie Roland's younger sister hissed as she poked her in the ribs.

Cassie groggily rolled over in her bed and groaned, "Why?"

"Your alarm didn't go off! You're due to meet your editor at the fire station in 20 minutes!"

Cassie shot up in her bed and gasped, "No way!"

She scrambled out of her bed and pushed past her little sister, Jane. Cassie ran to her dresser and yanked out a pair of jeans and a sweater, then dashed to the bathroom to change.

_"Great,"_ she thought grimly, _"The story I've been grabbing for finally gets set up and I oversleep!"_

Cassie opened the door to the bathroom after she changed and trotted back to her room and sat down at her vanity and began applying her makeup.

Jane sat on Cassie's bed and she blandly pointed out, "You're excited."

"Hell yes," snorted Cassie as she delicately put her eyeliner on.

"Why? Firemen are about the manliest guys you can find. And I know you well, Cas. You hate guys like that," Jane stated.

"I don't hate guys in general, Jane. I'm just trying to prove that the world doesn't always need men to do jobs like fighting fires. Women can do them just as well," Cassie replied, finishing her basic style of makeup and proceeded to brush out her curly, blonde hair.

"This might be an instance where you can't pry the fire department apart at the seams and make it seem sexist to your readers. Men are physically able to work jobs such as fire fighting more than women," Jane returned.

"That's the problem with boy-crazy girls like you. You don't have an open mind to all the things women are capable of. If we were given the chance, a door would be opened to the amount of jobs women would be able to do," Cassie said, standing up and picking her bag with her notebook and pens.

"Men and firemen are about 25% brawn and 75% ego. This my one chance to pick apart the fire department and put my story into the magazine and hopefully procure an ample amount of anger within the women readers. Sooner or later, women are bound to shake up regulations so much that there won't be anything left of the rules once we are finished. And before you know it, women will be fighting fires alongside men," Cassie declared, swinging her bag over her shoulder and leaving her non-feminist sister somewhat confused.

By the time Cassie got to the end of the hall, she heard her sister call, "I think you'll find that after spending a week following the day-shift of Station 51 around that men are stronger than women."

Cassie rolled her eyes and pulled her hair into a ponytail as she ran out the door.

_"We'll see about that..."_ she mused with determination.

Cassie jumped into the drivers seat of her convertible Corvette, an expensive car she'd bought after her many successful articles written for her magazine. She started the car up and pulled out of her driveway and made a ten minute drive to Los Angeles County's Station 51.

Once she arrived, she pulled into the parking back-lot and spotted her editor's pickup truck waiting for her. She parked, knowing she was about to be chastised for her late time.

"Cas!" the editor, Ed Walters snapped, "You're approximately 23 minutes late! What's the matter with you? Don't you know how long it took me to set this up? It's like a slap in the face to the fire department if we are late for our first meeting of the crew!"

"Save it, Walters, or we are going to even later," Cassie replied hotly as she opened her convertible's door and stepped out haughtily.

Ed grumbled about Cassie's smart mouth and dejectedly lead her into the entrance to the station. As soon as they stepped inside, Cassie looked around curiously. She saw that they apparently came in the back door, because they stood in a kitchen/tv room.

At first, Cassie only saw three men. One sat at the kitchen table and read the newspaper. He had light-brown hair and clear blue eyes, and seemed to hold a laid-back air.

Another stood at the stove and cooked something that smelled like chili. He had frizzy, dark hair and an unflattering mustache.

The third lounged on the couch watching the news, and Cassie could only see the back of his dark-brown, wavy hair.

They all looked up when they heard her and Ed walk in and as soon as they spotted her, they stood up. Stupid male formalities.

"You must be the journalist," the man with light-brown hair said, walking over to greet Cassie with a handshake, "Hi, I'm Roy Desoto."

"I'm Cassie Roland, journalist for a popular article in the magazine called _Harper_," Cassie replied professionally.

"Nice to meet you," Roy returned.

Cassie watched as Roy gestured to the man with a mustache, "This is Chet Kelly."

Cassie shook hands with him too.

"And," Roy waved his hand towards the man who used to be on the couch, "My partner, John Gage."

Cassie looked in the face of John Gage for the first time. The first thing she noticed about him was that he was undeniably pleasing to look at. His dark, wavy hair was short and parted to the side and his chocolate eyes were gentle, yet playful. His nose was crooked in a very subtle way and his grin was lopsided and toothy. He had tanned skin, which when paired up with his dark features, revealed obvious Native American blood.

The second thing she noticed made her instantly feel repulsed. He gawked at her, his dark eyes roving over her form in an interested manner.

_"He's checking me out!"_ thought Cassie with disdain.

His goofy grin became wider as he reached his hand out to shake hers. Cassie merely looked down at his tan hand with digust.

She wrinkled her nose and gave him a very formal and detached greeting, "Gage."

He lowered his hand, his smile fading as he glanced over at Roy, who looked just as perplexed as Gage.

"Well, I'll leave Cassie with you guys," Ed told the firemen, "Take care of her! She's going to make _Harper_ the hottest magazine since _People_!"

Ed left the station with a laugh that derived from his lust for money, leaving Cassie standing before Roy, the frizzy-haired Chet, and Gawking Gage.

"So," Cassie cleared her throat and addressed Roy in an authoritative voice, "I assume you and Gage are the paramedics I'll be following with this week?"

"Yeah, we are the paramedics. I hope you don't mind sticking with us rather than the firemen, but we see much more action than they do," Gage replied for DeSoto.

"Ah, so you are meaning to tell me that the firemen are inferior to you?" Cassie inquired, reaching in her bag and pulling out her handy notepad.

Gage's tan face paled when he noticed he was about to be quoted on his statement, so he quickly attempted to cover it up, but DeSoto beat him to the draw.

"All he was trying to say is that fires are very uncommon in any station. We get more accidents and sicknesses than we do fires. he never meant we are superior, we just have the job that requires more runs."

Cassie, angry that her first sight of a breakable seam had been protected, lowered her notepad.

"Yeah, you don't have to get so picky," scoffed Chet, who was immediately reprimanded by DeSoto with an elbow in the ribs.

Cassie returned her notepad to her bag and crossed her arms, glaring hard at the three firemen, "Listen, before we go out on any of your 'runs,' I think there is something you ought to know. I'm not a normal journalist. I won't follow you guys around all week like a star-struck puppy, hanging on every word you say as if you were gods. I'm not going to write about how firemen are indestructible he-men, either. In fact, my column will be just the opposite. I'm going to nose around for any weaknesses you firemen have and poke holes in them. My plan is to reveal to my women readers that firemen aren't perfect and your jobs are something that the female population can take over. When I'm finished with my article, my hopes are that women will began to demand for some bending of the rules, and that we'll be right beside any male fireman holding the heavy end of the hose. You got that?" Cassie informed them, pleased at the way their faces fell through her mini speech.

She almost laughed when Gage's jaw went slack.

_"Bunch of idiots..."_ thought Cassie as she glared at the boys, expecting no argument with her daring statement.

"Now wait just a dog-gone minute!" Gage suddenly hissed.

Cassie looked up in surprise.

"How can you make that kind of a proclamation? You know nothing about this station, or us for that matter! You might find that we do jobs that women are just not cut out to do!" Gage growled at her.

"That's right, Gage, take that attitude. Your attitude is just like any other man's: egotistical. You think the opposite sex is no greater than yours. You're wrong. Women are a lot stronger and able-bodied than you think we are," Cassie replied with exasperation.

"That may be the case, but there are some jobs, like firefighting, that are better left up to the men! I'd like to see you carry a human twice your size out of a burning building!" Gage snapped, his voice gathering a country twang as he spoke faster and louder.

'Well, maybe I will!" Cassie yelled back.

Cassie and Gage stood there, staring daggers at one another, hands on their hips. Roy and Chet were the innocent bystanders, who looked completely shocked at the entire argument.

Cassie lowered her hands, "I can't believe I'm lowering myself to your level just to argue with you."

"Lowering yourself to _my_ level?" squawked Gage, but Cassie's response was interrupted by the station alarm.

The dispatcher said over the intercom_, "Squad 51. Woman trapped. 1135 Westington Rd. Timeout, 0730."_

"Come on Cassie, that's us," Roy instructed the journalist as he and Gage barreled out of the kitchen and into the garage.

Cassie followed and stepped into a garage with a large engine and a little squad truck parked next to it. She trailed after Gage to the passengers side of the squad and slid into the small cab between DeSoto and Gage.

Roy hesitated before taking off as the garage door opened to get a piece of paper from someone who looked to be the captain. Roy handed the paper to Gage and then flipped on the sirens, speeding out of the garage and onto the street.

They drove in silence, the siren being the only thing that filled the mute tension. Gage didn't acknowledge that Cassie was even sitting beside him, but Roy frequently glanced out of the corner of his eye to sneak a peek at her.

They were uncomfortable with her presence, and she knew it and was proud of the fact. She would make them see, beyond a shadow of a doubt that women could do everything men could.

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**A/N: Like a said in my disclaimer, this story is based off of both an Emergency! episode called Women, and from the anime/manga called Kaichou wa Maid-Sama. I needed more resources to base Cassie's character off of than just Christie Todd from Emergency!: Women. I thought the perfect subject would be Misaki from Maid-Sama, who is basically a feministic crusader. From Misaki, I got the idea to make Cassie talk rough, even though that was uncommon for women in the 70's. **

**Anyway, as Cassie would put it, there can be many seams of weakness put into this story, but I hope my readers enjoy it :) Please note to those Emergency! fans out there that I am somewhat new to the Emergency! land. I only started watching the series in late November of 2010. However, I've seen all the episodes, excepting the ones from season 7 ,which are mostly movies and the final episode, which I'm not looking forward to watching, since Roy and John are both moving up to captain's rank and won't be in the same station anymore :( So I have all the facts, but I might forget some of them. If I get anything wrong, please let me know!**

**Also, the next entry will be posted very soon so that you can sort of get the feeling of where this story is headed :D**

**Please review, too! Let me know what you think of the story! Kind comments, compliments, and constructive criticism are most welcome! **

**~Face**


	2. Destruction

**Disclaimer: I do not own Universal's Emergency!**

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_Destruction_

They soon arrived at their appointed destination, which was a white, two-story house. They skidded to a stop and DeSoto and Gage promptly jumped out. Cassie, determined to match their speed, hopped out of the vehicle with fluidity.

The trio ran towards the house and Desoto stepped up to the door and knocked, shouting, "Fire department!"

A man in his late forties was soon at the door urging them to hurry to the kitchen

"What happened?" Gage inquired as they made their way to the kitchen.

"It's all my fault!" the man cried out, "Her legs have got to be crushed!"

Gage and DeSoto exchanged worried glances and DeSoto asked again, "What happened to her?"

"I was cleaning out from behind our stove and I pushed it pretty hard to get it out of the way! I told my wife to stand back, but she didn't move away far enough! The stove fell on her legs!" the man wailed, pointing to the kitchen.

Gage and DeSoto walking in, Cassie close behind them. Sure enough, a female victim about the ago of forty lay with her legs trapped under an overturned stove.

Cassie heard Gage take in a sharp breath when he spotted the accident, but he said nothing further to reveal his dismay. Cassie didn't have any experience with accidents such as this, but she wasn't stupid. The woman's legs were lost.

"We're going to need the port-a-power for this one. I'll call in the engine," Gage told DeSoto.

Gage lifted his handy-talkie and spoke into it, "Squad 51 requests Engine 51's assistance."

_"Ten-four, 51. Engine 51? Please respond to Squad 51's location,"_ the dispatcher replied.

A few seconds later, the remainder of the crew at Station 51 replied, "Engine 51 responding. KMG365."

Gage nodded to DeSoto, who approached the downed woman. She was barely conscious, and obviously in a great deal of pain.

"Hi, I'm Fireman Paramedic Roy DeSoto, and this is my partner, John Gage. We are here to help you, so there is no reason to be frightened. How do you feel, ma'am?" DeSoto asked gently.

The lady chuckled and slurred in a half-conscious voice, "I feel like I've had my legs run over by a train. How do you think you'd feel if you've just had a stove dropped on your legs?"

"Not to hot I suppose," laughed DeSoto, reaching down to feel her pulse and respiration, "But I'm glad to see you still have your sense of humor."

"I'm a riot when I don't have a stove on top of me," snorted the woman.

DeSoto laughed quietly, but when he turned to give the vitals to Gage, it was obvious that his findings weren't good.

"Hand me the BP cuff, Johnny," DeSoto called out to Gage, who passed it to his senior partner with no hesitation.

DeSoto quickly took the blood pressure and reported it to Gage.

Gage flinched but picked up the biophone and contacted Rampart General Hospital.

"Rampart, this is Squad 51," he said with a professional tone.

_"Go ahead, 51," _a male voice returned.

"Rampart we have a female victim approximately 40 years old. She has had a stove fall onto her legs, just below the knee. Her vitals are..." Gage relayed the vitals to Rampart.

Gage lowered the phone momentarily to look up at the pale husband and ask, "Is she allergic to any medication?"

"No, she isn't," the husband responded with a shaky voice.

"Rampart, we just questioned her husband and she is not allergic to any medication," Gage informed the hospital.

_"Has she been extracted from under the stove yet? Can you see the extent of her injuries?"_ Rampart inquired.

"Not yet, we've called for an engine, and they should be here in about 1 minute," Gage returned.

_"All right, 51." _Rampart replied and gave the necessary instructions as to which fluid they should use for the IV. Cassie couldn't understand everything the doctor said, but she heard the word MS. She knew that mean the patient needed morphine, a strong and addictive pain killer.

_"Keep us posted on any fluctuation in her stability and let us know when she is freed from the stove," _Rampart instructed.

"Ten-four, Rampart," Gage replied and set the biophone down.

Gage reached for a plastic bag and ripped it open, revealing a plastic bag filled with IV fluid.

Cassie watched intently as the two paramedics swabbed down the area at the crook of the lady's arm and slipped the IV needle into her skin.

Just then, the rest of the 51 crew came inside, bearing the port-a-power. Cassie observed the men as they stuck the machine under the stove and easily lifted it off her.

_"They don't really put any physical work into this kind of rescue at all! They let the jaws do all the work. Women could do that anyday,"_ thought Cassie, writing down her musings on her notepad.

The lady began to scream as the weight lifted off her legs and the pain heightened as the pressure relieved. Cassie cringed as the looked at the bones poking out of the lady's crushed legs. Cassie had never seen such a tangled mess of flesh, bone, and blood.

Cassie noticed Gage's face turn pale as he inspected the legs with DeSoto. Once they had thoroughly looked over the legs, he reported the scan to Rampart.

Soon, the lady was settled down by pain reliever and put onto a gurney and pulled out of the house by two ambulance drivers, Gage following them out.

DeSoto began to exit the house after informing the husband that he was allowed to ride in the front of the ambulance. Cassie stopped him by asking, "Her legs...will they be...?"

"I'm not a doctor, so I can only make an educated assumption," DeSoto replied as soon as they were out of earshot from the husband, "The bones were almost all shattered in her legs. She'll most likely have to have them amputated."

Cassie frowned fiercely, "If it wasn't for her stupid fool of a husband, she'd still have her legs!"

"No one can say that for sure," DeSoto reprimanded sharply as he put back his medical kit into the squad, "Anything could have caused that to fall. If it weren't her husband, it could have been her brother, sister or even distant uncle. We as paramedics don't ever blame accidents on anyone. We must stay neutral. We are there to do one thing, rescue the victim. We don't choose sides, we don't blame anyone, especially not in the victim's family and friend's presence. That could cause thoughts and emotions within to arise, such as guilt. If you would have said in front of that man what you just said to me about him, he'd felt guilty or bitter. And you never know, guilt can easily change to self-hatred. And self-hatred can easily lead to suicide. Words are a heavy thing. You've got to be careful with them."

Cassie answered harshly as they both got into the squad and shut the doors behind them, "I wasn't going to say anything to him! What do you think I am? An idiot?"

"No. As a matter of fact, I think you're very smart and levelheaded enough to know that going on a campaign on men's ineptitude was not the right thing to do in that situation. I appreciate that you didn't say to them what you said to me. If you had, I'd have thrown you out right away, no questions asked. So, remember for future reference that you are to leave your women's lib out of our rescues," DeSoto returned easily, giving Cassie a small smile.

Cassie couldn't help but smile back. He may have been an egotistical man but at least he somewhat tolerated her desire to do more for the equal rights movement. That's what she labeled as a open-minded person. He was a clever man.

On the other hand, Gage was far from being open-minded. He was going to need some work. A _lot_ of work.

-x-

Cassie and DeSoto arrived at the hospital a little late to pick up Gage, on account of DeSoto's pep-talk with the journalist. When they came to the emergency room desk, Cassie spotted Gage leaning on the desk, chatting with a nurse who looked to be in her late thirties.

"How's our patient?" DeSoto inquired when he and Cassie came up to the desk.

Gage didn't look up as he spoke, "She didn't make it."

"What?" DeSoto gasped, clearly appalled.

The nurse answered for Gage, who continued to stare hard at the desk, "The bones that were out of place and protruding through the skin made her lose more blood than we thought. She died after she arrived at the hospital."

Cassie's heart thumped with shock and she lashed out in anger with the subject she knew best.

"I can't believe that!" she cried out, causing Gage, DeSoto and the nurse to all look up sharply.

Cassie turned her fiery eyes on Gage and yelled at him, "All you can say is 'she didn't make it? What are you, some kind of monster who doesn't care if someone lives or dies? Oh, never mind. I understand! It was a female victim, so it doesn't really matter to you if she died. If it was a man, you'd have been really upset!"

She felt DeSoto angrily and firmly grasp her shoulder and she watched as the nurse's kind face twist in rage. Cassie had gone to far this time.

Cassie's eyes wandered over to Gage, who earlier seemed fascinated by the grain in the desk. But now his lips were pressed together and his eyes seemed red around the edges. For a moment, Cassie thought he was going to cry, but he looked up at her with a face that could freeze water.

"I am just as upset about this patient as I would be for any other patient we have ever had. Whether it be a man, a child, or a woman," he growled.

Cassie looked up into his dark, stormy eyes before he pushed past the group and headed towards the exit.

"Roy, why don't you go out and try to comfort Johnny a bit. I'm going to have a little talk with your journalist, here," the nurse said to DeSoto.

DeSoto complied and walked away the nurse stood up from her desk and lead Cassie into a little empty coffee room.

"What's your name?" the nurse inquired.

"Cassie Roland," Cassie responded.

"I'm Dixie McCall. Now that we're through formalities, may I inquire as to what that little outburst was back there?" Dixie asked.

"I-" Cassie's mouth opened and shut as she found herself at a loss for words.

"Is there a reason you basically called Johnny insensitive towards women victims?" Dixie questioned.

"Those are the vibes I'm getting from him. I'm a journalist for a women's liberation column in _Harper_magazine. I'm trying to prove through a series of stories that men aren't all they are believed to be. And all I can see in Gage is prejudice. He's got such a one-track mind."

"And his one-track mind landed him in the paramedic program. You don't understand him very well yet because you only met him this morning. He's a great guy, but he's accustomed to the old ways when it comes to women. He believes that women are strong, but they are still physically inferior to men, which they are. Even the strongest woman on earth is weaker than the strongest man. That's the way it always has been and will always be. Men are meant to do manual labor, such as firefighting, while women are made to do less strenuous jobs. And that doesn't mean women are inferior to mean, it just means their talents are better placed elsewhere," Dixie said.

"That's just the attitude I'm trying to rid women of! If they keep telling themselves that they are weaker than men, of course they will be!" Cassie hissed.

Dixie shrugged, "One thing is for sure. I couldn't get out there and risk my life to delve into flames and pull out a body from a blazing house, the fact that the body is alive or dead being questionable. Not many women hold that bravery. Many men do, though. And Johnny is one of those men. Does he think he's superman? No, he doesn't. But he does have the courage to put his life on the line for others. It's in a man's blood to do such courageous things, while it is in a woman's blood to have a passion for other things. Like my passion. My love is to take care of people. It's where my talent truly lies. And your talent may be fighting fires, but it is not what the female majority has within them. You may have to take up the courage to curb your need for adventure and channel it towards something else."

Cassie backed away from Dixie, "That may be all right for you, but there are thousands of women out there who are chomping at the bit to be firefighters, and I mean to see to it that I help them get their way."

"Maybe they are eager to try something that has been banned from them for so long. Just like a child is sometimes eager to try out his father's favorite beer, a banned treat that they've been forbidden to drink during their youth. The child wants the beer so bad, and when he does get it he might love it and yearn for more. If he does love it and constantly want more, how could it benefit him in the longrun?" Dixie asked, tilting her head to the side with a slight smile.

Cassie was silent.

"In the end, there's a huge probability that the child will become an alcoholic. And he might end up killing himself unintentionally. I wonder if it's the same for these feminist crusaders? Will they want more once they've had a taste, and end up destroying themselves because of it?" Dixie inquired as Cassie drifted towards the door.

"Destroy themselves how?" Cassie growled.

"By biting off more than they can chew," Dixie replied.

"That won't happen," Cassie barked and walked out the door, leaving Dixie behind in the coffee room.

_"Destroy ourselves,"_scoffed Cassie and she stalked back to the squad where Gage and DeSoto waited for her, _"What a stupid assumption."_

_

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_

**A/N: Hello again! So, due to some reviews, I understand that I was selfish and very stupid to say I would stop writing if people didn't review. What I meant was this: Please let me know if I should continue this story, because like some writers, I feel like I'm imposing on readers time if I right a load of crap. Please accept my apology for this error of statement! I WILL BE CONTINUING! I do love this story and I'm glad to see the reviewers do too!**

**So, in this chapter I had a lot of talks with Cassie from Roy and Dixie. Personally, I really liked the little quip that Dixie gave to Christie Todd in the episode _Women_, but I wanted to not follow what she said entirely. **

**By now you probably need to know I'm not anti-feminism or pro-feminism. Yes, I'm a girl XD I think women should have the right to be firefighters, but I also believe that men can do a better job in such a task. Actually, I do admire women who can go into such a task and are able to manage. That's true 'girl-power.' I think we should have the right to do what we want in the job world, but I don't think women should be the majority in some jobs, such as firefighting or being police officers, for that matter. Women need to realize sometimes that men are more strong and able-bodied and better at some jobs than we are. The knowledge of that, but the willingness to do whatever they can to help anyone truly shows the colors of a valiant woman.**

**One more thing: I am not fluent on medical terms and what is a low or high plood pressure or a good or bad pulse and respiration. I also do not know what they would be if someone's legs were crushed under a stove. Forgive my vague vitals in this chapter.**

**Anyway, kind comments, compliments, and constructive critisism are very, very welcome. Please review!**

**~Face**


	3. Idiocy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Universal's Emergency!**

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_Idiocy_

Cassie walked outside to find Gage and DeSoto both leaning against the side of the squad. DeSoto was quietly speaking to Gage, whose jaw merely clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

Cassie didn't feel as if she had anything to feel sorry for, even after Dixie's talk. Cassie was well aware that she'd been to harsh with Gage, but he would get over it.

_"He's a tough man afterall,"_ Cassie mused sarcastically.

Cassie sidled up to the two paramedics and said, "Are we ready to leave, or are you guys going to stand here all day?"

DeSoto looked up and Cassie detected a glare in his eyes. Did he expect for Cassie to come and crawl on her knees, begging Gage for forgiveness? She gritted her teeth as she said, "Let's go."

DeSoto sighed and walked to the opposite side of the car and got into the driver's seat.

Cassie moved in front of Gage to open the car door, but was surprised and somewhat irritated when Gage's hand landed on the handle first, automatically attempting to open the door for her.

"What are you doing, Gage? I'm completely capable of opening the door myself," Cassie growled, smacking and elbow into his ribs to make him back off.

Gage grimanced as her sharp elbow connected with his ribcage and he lifted his hands in defense.

"All right, fine!" he snapped, giving a mock bow of apology.

Cassie flipped her ponytail defiantly and opened the door herself, climbing into the middle seat.

Gage hopped in seconds after her and slammed the squad door shut, and DeSoto pulled out of the hospital's parking lot.

Gage reached over Cassie's knee and pulled the radio off the hook and spoke into it, "Squad 51, available."

_"Squad 51,"_ the dispatcher acknowledged.

"So..." Cassie said, pulling out her notepad, "Can I ask you guys a few questions while we drive?"

"Might as well. You haven't stopped talking and asking questions since you got here," Gage mumbled.

Cassie threw a nasty look at him, then looked up at DeSoto expectantly.

"Shoot," DeSoto agreed.

"I'm glad to see _someone_ is being cooperative," Cassie hissed at Gage, then asked DeSoto, "How many calls do you get a day."

"We've had as many a ten calls only in the daytime that we can respond to, while somedays we'll only get one. That does count all the false alarms we get too," DeSoto replied.

Cassie wrote this infomation down and inquired, "Now, in your personal opinion, if we had an all-female fire station, how many responses do you think we could make."

"Oh God," Gage moaned, dropping his face into his palm.

"I suppose that depends on the kind, just as it does with all-men fire stations," DeSoto answered, looking perplexed.

"Do you have to turn everything into questions that are covered in women's lib?" Gage asked, fully turning in his seat to look straight down at Cassie.

Cassie scowled and swivelled to look him directly in the eyes, "I keep on telling you, Gage, that I'm a writer for a women's lib column. Of course I'm going to ask you questions regarding your prejudice against women."

Gage's goofy smile brightened his face as he scoffed, "I'm not prejudiced against women."

"You're prejudiced when they are trying to prove that they can do as much as you men can do rather than snuggling up into your arms and lapping up every word you speak," Cassie retorted, wrinkling her nose in defiance.

"Do you have a proglem with being snuggled by men?" Gage answered quickly, his brown eyes narrowing smugly.

"I do not mind if they don't expect that is all women can do," Cassie sighed, leaning back to face the road again.

"Well-" Gage started with a comeback, but Roy cleared his throat to cut him off.

"Why don't we call that one even and go to neutral corners for a while," DeSoto said to them.

Gage gave a huff and crossed his arms. Cassie rolled her eyes and scowled. Not a sound was heard from either one of them until the alarm went off on the radio.

_"Squad 51, man stuck. 155 Beachmont Ave," _the dispatcher relayed.

Gage reached forward to the radio and replied, "Squad 51 responding."

Cassie watched as DeSoto flipped on the sirens and accelerated towards Beachmont Avenue.

Within minutes they arrived on scene, which was a sleazy, little donut shop.

The squad's tires squealed as it came to a stop and Cassie, Gage and DeSoto all exited the truck. The two paramedics grabbed their equipment and headed inside, Cassie following close behind them.

"Fire Department!" Gage called out as they entered the shop, which appeared to be empty.

"Back here!" a male voice replied from the kitchen.

DeSoto, Gage adn Cassie trooped into the kitchen and looked about. Cassie almost could not contain her laughter when she saw a man with his arm stuck in a large dough-mixer.

Gage was the first to step forward and examine the man.

"Hey, what's your name?" Gage inquired.

"Harvey Cromwell," said the man, who looked to be in his early fifties.

"Are you in a great deal of pain, Harvey?" he asked gently, looking into the mixer.

"No, I'm just stuck. I was mixing some dough for tomorrow's sales and I reached over to turn the switch off and somehow my wedding ring clipped off and fell in there. You see, I've been losing a lot of weight since my wife wants to go to the Bahamas for our 25th anniversary. And I guess I lose a lot more fat in my fingers than I expected," the man said, looking completely flustered.

"But how'd you get your hand jammed behind that mixing tongs?" Gage asked, looking completely discombulated as he stared into the mixer.

"Well, I reached my hand down as quick as I could to grab the ring before it got mixed into the dough. The mixing tong ran over the part of the bowl where my hand was and it jammed. It hurt at first, but it didn't try to move anymore after my hand got caught. I reached over and turned the switch off after that happened, though. Anyway, I was luck I have a phone on the wall right next to the mixer. Otherwise, I would have been stuck here until my customers came in the morning!" Harvey told Gage.

"Sir, why didn't you just turn the machine off, then grab your ring?" Gage questioned.

The man's face went deadpan, then his cheeks reddened, "I guess it didn't occur to me. People do funny things in desperation."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Gage chuckled, glancing over at Cassie.

Cassie felt a feminism tirade coming on, but she got a warning glance from DeSoto. She bit her lip and settled on glaring icily at Gage.

"Do these tongs have a release switch on them?" Gage asked, his mind quickly going back to his job.

"Yeah, it's on the back. I would have released them myself, but I couldn't reach," Harvey replied, pointing towards the back of the mixing machine.

Gage twisted around and strained to hit the release switch, the prongs soon coming loose. Gage popped the prongs off their ports and tenderly pulled Harvey's hand out of the mixer and examined it.

"Well, Mr. Cromwell, it looks like you don't have any broken bones. It might bruise a bit, but if you get any serious pains, I want you to contact your doctor, all right?" Gage said handing a towel to Harvey to wipe the dough off his hands.

"I will. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it," Harvey responded, standing up and putting the prongs back into their ports.

"Glad we could help," Gage answered, walking back out of the kitchen.

Once outside, Cassie couldn't contain herself.

"All right, DeSoto, you told me not to mention anything about what I think is stupid in front of a victim. But I'm not in that fool's presence anymore. He would have never gotten himself stuck if he weren't an idiot!" Cassie cried out, waving her hands around for emphasis.

"You don't know that," Gage said as he slipped the drug box into the squad's back compartments.

"Things happen, Cassie. That could have been a male or female and still have happened. It wasn't his fault. Sometimes people do things without thinking," DeSoto added.

"I bet if someone compared men and women's awareness of the obvious, men would lose by a long-shot!" Cassie said as she slid into the squad's cab between Gage and DeSoto.

"Will you cool it? Can't we hear a friendly word or a kind comment? I'd much rather you say something like, 'Gee, I'm glad that man's hand wasn't broken,'" Gage asked after he told the dispatcher Squad 51 was once again available.

"How completely sexist of you," snorted Cassie, "I forgot that if I'm a girl that I should be tender and sweet all the time."

"You know," DeSoto suddenly said, "We firemen aren't as rough as you think we are. All this time you've been saying that women can be as strong and tough as firemen. To be a fireman, you have to have some gentleness within your spirit. It's part of any fireman's character to be kind and tender."

"I don't see how that would apply to your job description," Cassie replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Maybe I can't explain it to you now, but hopefully before the week is out, you'll know what I'm talking about," DeSoto stated.

Cassie went over his words in her mind, but she couldn't think of how the firemen would use gentleness in their job.

_"Engine 51, Squad 51, Engine 10, Engine 116, Structure fire. 161 West Bellview St." _the dispatcher suddenly said over the radio.

Gage plucked up the radio and replied, "Squad 51."

Gage's eyes glanced over at Cassie and he muttered, "Looks like you get to see your first fire, Fireman Roland."

* * *

**A/N: You reviewers have some very interesting points that I did not think of. I realize now that I was being selfish about the 'I'll stop writing' bit. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to come off as a person who is saying, 'You guys are reading, not responding, so I'm going to punish you by not updating.' **

**Haha, yes the stove...I came to the realization that a stove could not crush one's legs so bad that it would kill the person. I'll be more careful from now on.**

**The Jaw of Life is a big mistake. I'm very sorry about that, I meant the port-a-power and I'll fix that asap! Thanks for letting me know!**

**I don't completely agree with Dixie myself either ;) But I needed someone to be the one to be the female that calls Cassie back to the other point of view. In the episode 'Women,' Dixie states that all the men around the fire station and hospital were superior to her and she loved it, so I attempted to take that side of her and try to reason with Cassie. As for her being in a fire...you read my mind. That might possibly be in her future :D**

**Kelmin: You are right about firefighting taking all kinds. And I believe some women are able to be firefighters. On my authors note below my 2nd chapter, I write a paragraph about what I truly believe. I don't wholeheartedly agree with any of my characters except for maybe Roy. Dixie is too non-feminist, Gage is too anti-feminist, and Cassie is too libbest. Roy seems to understand where Cassie's views are coming from and he doesn't really care what she talks about, as long as it doesn't interfer. **

**And about Dixie. You're right, I believe they mentioned that she was in Korea in the Wedsworth-Townsend Act. As for this story, I'm not going to delve into that 'sometimes libbest' that came out of her. **

**As for volunteering, Cassie might look into it, but overall my goal is to somehow have mutual understand between all of them.**

**Thanks for reviewing everyone! I have a quick question for my readers though. I've been contemplating this as a subplot, but I'm not sure. How would everyone feel if I threw some romance into the story between Johnny and Cassie. Of course, it wouldn't be anytime soon. I was thinking maybe their arguing could slowly change into attraction. Should I through this idea in the trash, or go ahead with it? I really take your suggestions very seriously, and I'm so grateful to all the readers for saying they are excited about the story despite my previous mistakes :) **

**Kind comments, compliments, and constructive criticism are welcomed!**

**~Face**


	4. Gentleness

**Disclaimer: I do not Universal's Emergency!**

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_Gentleness_

Cassie blinked, fearing that her eyes were decieving her. She'd never seen anything like this.

At was a basic city structure, a two-story with a shop on the first floor and a living flat on the second. It might have even been quaint a few hours earlier.

Now, flames burst out of the all the windows and licked the brown brick walls. Fire engines were scattered about the base of the building, shooting streams of water into the blazing structure.

"Amazing!" Cassie gasped as she took in the sight.

"There's nothing amazing about that. It's a danger the tenants of the flat, but also all the structures around it," Gage responded, glaring at Cassie as the squad pulled in next to Station 116's pumper engine.

Cassie stuck her tongue out at Gage and pushed his arm, shoving him into the squad door.

"Get out, I need to take a look at this!" she ordered him.

Gage violently jerked his arm away from her and opened the door, sliding out onto the pavement.

Cassie gazed at the fire as Captain Stanely dashed up to Gage and DeSoto, saying, "We've got a woman and a child who were just reported missing. You two go in and get them out."

The two paramedics were already halfway done getting their gear on by the time Stanely finished.

"I've got Lopez and Stoker inside, hosing the stairs for you guys," Stanely added.

Gage and DeSoto both nodded and began to head into the building. Cassie took a step towards their direction, but the Captain's hand flew out in front of her.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked sternly.

"I was going to get closer so I could write about the events in great detail!" Cassie shot at him.

"I'm sorry. That house is extremely unstable. You'll have to stay back," Stanely instructed her, then headed back to his coworkers.

"You wouldn't say that if I were a boy!" Cassie yelled after him in frustration.

She threw her notepad on the ground angrily and went to sit down on the running board of the squad.

"Those stupid bastards think that they are the only gender that can withstand the hot flames. I wasn't even going to go inside, I was just going to closely observe everything happening..." Cassie mumbled under her breath, sticking a pouting expression on her face.

Minutes seemed to drag by as Gage and DeSoto tried to find the victims. Cassie restlessly looked at her watch, then back at the flames, then repeated these actions.

It was only 12:30 and she'd seen a death, a stupid male ineptitude accident, and a fire. She wondered what else she would get to see.

After approximately 14 minutes, Gage and DeSoto emerged from the building. DeSoto came out empty-handed, while Gage held a little girl in his arms.

"Get the oxygen, Kelly!" Gage barked at Chet.

Chet obeyed and retrieved the o2 bottle. He brought it out and Gage took the air mask and placed it over the little girl's face.

The brown-haired, little girl was about five years old. Her bright blue eyes were opened, but they looked red. She seemed fairly well, considering she had just come out of an almost demolished building.

Cassie smiled at the girl when their eyes met, but as soon as the girl spotted her, she pulled the mask off her face and began to cry.

"Mommy! Mommy!" she wailed.

A building tenent came up to the paramedics and said, The woman who was reported missing was her mother."

Cassie watched as Gage's brown eyes snapped up at the tenant with shock. He threw a questioning look at DeSoto, who shook his head firmly.

"Johnny, she can't be-" his voice was cut off by the sound of wood crashing down.

The flat had just fallen in.

Gage cringed as the little girl cried harder, seeming to be aware that her mother wasn't alive. The girl reached up for Gage and clung to his turnout coat, sobbing into his shoulder.

Cassie then heard Gage say to the girl in a tone that she'd never heard come out of him before, "It's all right, honey. Everything is going to be fine. We're going to take good care of you. Shhh, calm down, sweetheart."

After a moment, the girl settled down and merely placed her head underneath Gage's chin, cuddling her cheek against his neck.

_"Gentleness..."_ thought Cassie as she watched Gage cradle the girl and tenderly rock her back and forth,_ "DeSoto was right. A fireman has to be kind and gentle to deal with situations like this. It would be impossible to be in this line of work without a kind spirit..."_

Cassie looked up to see DeSoto looking intently at her. His blue eyes seemed to say, "See what I mean?"

Cassie's cheeks went red. For the first time since she arrived at Station 51, she felt as if she truly learned a lesson that did nothing to improve her women's lib column. She didn't appreciate that. She came here to do a job, not have her mind warped into thinking men were great.

She'd have to be more careful to not be evaded by that Roy DeSoto, who seemed to have a way of being tolerant, yet having his own opinions set. And somehow he managed to slip his beliefs into Cassie's mind. She refused to let that seed of a belief grow.

And that John Gage. He was a puzzle by himself. He wasn't guarded in how he felt about feminism, but he unknowingly made Cassie admire him for a split second. For a fleeting moment, Cassie stared at him in awe when he showed such tenderness to the little girl. This was a side that Cassie had never seen of him, and she was caught off guard when he did show it. She would not allow him to so easily catch her off guard again.

After all, she was fighting for equal rights. She would prove that men and women were equal, even if she had to spend a year with the fire station.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for everyone's reviews! I'm glad y'all are enjoying the story!**

**There's something quick I wanted to let everyone know about. In the first chapter I mentioned that Cassie was going to spend a week at Station 51. But what I meant was that she'll be spending 7 days with A-Shift, because it would be too difficult for her to learn everything I want her to learn by spending days that I'd probably skip when she wasn't with A-Shift. Just letting you know!**

**As always, kind comments, compliments, and constructive criticism are welcomed and appreciated!**

**~Face**


	5. Tolerance

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Universal's Emergency!**

* * *

_Tolerance_

A while after they dropped the little girl off at the hospital under the care of her father, who was at work when the fire happened, Squad 51 traveled back to the station.

Everything was unusually quiet in the cab. Gage wasn't giving Cassie a hard time about anything and Cassie didn't put up her customary lib campaign.

"Sharon's father seemed to be a good caretaker for her. At least he wasn't one of those 'never around' parents," Gage suddenly muttered, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"I think she's in good hands," DeSoto agreed.

Cassie could have said a million things about how many 'never around' fathers there were in the world, but she refrained. She had enough sense to know this subject wasn't the right one to crusade.

"I think she'll miss her mother a great deal," Cassie said, her voice coming out weaker than she intended.

Gage and DeSoto's heads both snapped in her direction, completely shocked at her cracked voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, she will," DeSoto responded with a nod.

DeSoto backed the squad into Station 51's garage and turned the engine off. Cassie turned to her right to get out after Gage. She noticed him extend his hand out to her as she swung her legs out of the squad.

"Gage..." Cassie warned.

He looked up at her in realization. he hadn't meant to try helping her. It was that automatic male instinct that made him flourish a hand to her to help her get down.

"What are you doing?" Cassie asked harshly, smacking his hand away.

"Sorry," snarled Gage, "I keep on forgetting you women think you are so equal to men that you refuse our help for anything. But what do I know? I'm just a man."

"We _are_ equal! I refuse to get take your help on things that I can fully accomplish myself!" Cassie snapped at him.

Gage pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed with exasperation. Cassie grinned defiantly as he looked at her and said, "You know what? Fine! This fighting is wearing me out. If you want to be equal to man, you will be. From now on I'll treat you like a guy. No questions asked."

DeSoto came around the squad to in time to hear Gage's proclaimation. DeSoto and Cassie's eyes widened and they both cried out in unison, "What?"

Gage's eyes flicked over to DeSoto, then back to Cassie.

"You heard me," he said, narrowing his eyes at Cassie, "I'm sick and tired of all your complaining. It's like you don't even appreciate that we've let a crazy broad like you in here! Believe me, it's taking a lot out of everyone to have a obnoxious person like you, yapping at our heels about women's lib wherever we go!"

"Johnny..." DeSoto muttered in a warning voice.

"No, Roy. I'm done coddling this dame. She's driving me up the wall with her constant crusading! From now on she's a boy in my mind. I'll treat her the same as I would as any other male on earth," Gage stated.

Cassie grinned wider and she replied, "I'm glad you are starting to see it my way, Mr. Gage."

She flounced away, and once she was out of earshot, Roy turned to Johnny and mumbled, "You're just letting her get what she wants."

"Is it what she wants? Really?" Johnny inquired, putting his hands on his hips in anger.

"What do you mean?" Roy inquired.

"I wonder if she realizes how men treat one another. She wants to be treated as an equal? I think she's in for a surprise of how men act when there are no women around," Johnny said, his voice getting more mysterious as he spoke.

Roy tilted his head to the side and asked, "You've got a plan?"

"You bet, partner," Johnny replied with a lopsided grin.

* * *

**Thanks for the reviews everyone! Sorry for the short chapter, but this is a sort of a filler for the next chapter. I'll be posting them both today because my computer was acting up last night, inhibiting my '1 chapter per day' rule.**

**On the note of someone saying that I kept on spelling 'Stanley' wrong on the previous chapter, I apologize. I actually knew I spelled it wrong and I switched it, but apparently the document manager didn't respond. Oh well. I'll fix that in the near future. Thanks for letting me know.**

**I'm putting a shout-out to all the readers! I need suggestions! I talked to my friend the other day and she gave me a few ideas for plots, but I could always use your guy's awesome and brilliant ideas. Where do you think the story should go? What situations would you like to see happen? Let me know!**

**Kind comments, compliments, and constructive criticism are welcomed!**


	6. Impression

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Universal's Emergency!**

**

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**

_Impression_

Cassie went through the rest of her first day without any more run-ins with Gage. He didn't talk to her much. In fact, he didn't even reply to any women's lib quips she made.

But from the way she'd catch Gage whispering to DeSoto or another man on the crew, she knew the man had something up his sleeve. She didn't know what it was, but his conspicuous glances were enough to make even the dumbest person suspicious.

The next day, she found out what he had in store for her.

"Hey, guys. How's it going?" Cassie greeted the A-Shift of Station 51.

They all sat at the kitchen table, either eating or talking to one another.

They barely glanced up when she said hello, and some merely mumbled, "Hey."

Cassie's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, but then she realized what it was. This was Gage's plan. He'd gotten the enter A-Shift involved in making her equal to any guy.

She couldn't explain the gravity of pride she felt as she pulled out her own chair and sat without getting any help from the guys.

As soon as she sat down, Gage stood up to trail over to the percolator and pour himself a cup of coffee.

"That coffee smells great," Cassie said to him, "Would you mind pouring me a cup?"

"You've got legs. Get your own," muttered Gage, not even making eye contact with Cassie.

Cassie's mouth fell open and she spluttered, "Gage, you're right there! I just wanted a cup of coffee. Is that too much trouble?"

"Why should I get it for you if I don't get it for any of the other guys? You're just as capable as they are," Gage replied with a bored tone.

Cassie pushed her chair out with anger and stormed over to the coffee maker, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

She suddenly felt Gage's arm on her shoulder, and she looked up at him, surprised to see him casually using her for something to lean on as he said, "You know, I don't know why you're so upset. You asked to be treated like just another man we'd work with."

Cassie shrugged off Gage's arm with less severeness as she would have liked and took a sip of her coffee.

"That was a great breakfast, Stoker," Chet abruptly called out,"You make a great cook."

"Thanks," Stoker responded.

Chet stood and carried his plates over to the sink. He turned around, then to Cassie's disgust, let out a loud belch.

Cassie flinched and leaned to look around Gage and glare directly at Chet.

"Do you mind?" she growled.

"Mind what?" Chet asked.

"Don't belch," Cassie replied angrily.

"What's wrong with belching?" Chet inquired, looking perplexed.

"It's repulsive. Don't do that anymore," Cassie snapped.

"Why can't I? We're all guys," Chet questioned.

"I'm not!" Cassie yelled, "Get some manners!"

Gage held up a hand to stop the arguing and her looked at Cassie with an overly innocent expression, "I thought you asked for us to think of you as a guy?"

"I meant with equality! I didn't mean for you all to be gross and rude," Cassie retorted.

"Usually guys when guys are around their gender only, they will get their own coffee and belch as much as they want. So, I don't see your point," DeSoto called from where he sat at the table, looking at a magazine.

"I've never seen you act this way before," Cassie stated, crossing her arms.

"That's because we saw you as a girl. Now that you're not a female, we can be our normal selves," Gage said.

"You are a bunch of idiots!" Cassie shouted at the lot of them, stalking toward the door to the garage.

She seethed as she looked over her shoulder to inform them, "I'll be in the locker room."

The day before she'd left her book-bag in the spare locker Station 51 had loaned her. She felt like an idiot because her notebook was in the bag and she couldn't start writing her paper without her notes. She walked into the room and to the far end of the lockers which were next to the sinks and opened the locker against the wall.

She yanked out her bag and retrieved her notebook, looking fondly over her well-written libbest information.

She was so busy, she didn't notice Gage walk in and head to his locker, which was only a few feet away from where Cassie stood.

Cassie gave a start when Gage suddenly opened his locker door and she turned to look at him. Somehow, the entire front of his uniform had been drenched in water.

"What the hell happened to you?" Cassie chuckled, looking back down at her notes.

"Spilled the water pitcher on myself," Gage muttered.

Cassie read a few more of the lines on her paper and mumbled, "Male incompetence."

"I guess the spare will have to do," Gage said quietly.

"Spare?" Cassie raised her eyes again and jumped up in shock to see Gage shirtless and taking the belt off his pants.

"W-What are you doing?" yelped Cassie, backing away from the situation.

"Changing. What does it look like I'm doing?" Gage asked as he pulled the belt away from the belt loops on his pants.

"It looks like you're stripping in front of a girl. Go use one of the bathrooms to change!" Cassie ordered, pointing towards the bathroom while trying not to look at his bare chest.

"There isn't enough room in the stalls to change. Besides, I thought you told me to treat you like a fellow fireman. Roy or Chet are firemen and they wouldn't care if I changed in front of them," Gage replied.

"But I'm really a girl, not a fireman," Cassie weakly responded.

"Truly?" Gage asked.

Cassie nodded.

Gage walked up to Cassie and whispered, "Listen. We would be happy to go back to treating you like a female. We just need your consent."

"That doesn't mean I'll stop my crusades," Cassie growled.

"Fine. And as long as you keep up your crusades, I'll keep on balking against your opinions."

Cassie kept her eyes trained on the sinks across the room and she muttered, "So it's either this treatment or your opposition to my opinion."

"Basically," Gage answered.

"Gage, you should respect girls and give them the equality they want," Cassie told him.

"That's a bit contradictory, isn't it?" Gage snickered.

"You'll understand what I mean someday."

Gage crossed his arms and said, "I've proved my point, though. I must be getting through that thick skull of yours."

"Like hell, you have."

"I did, just admit it. I just showed you what the world would be like once guys started realized how much you didn't want them to be courteous to you. You'd lose a whole lot of respect from them. You don't understand us, Cassie. We don't hate girls. We respect them because they are capable of so much. And we treat them the way we do because we admire their ability to do things we can't do," Gage said gently.

"And those same thoughts get all women stuck taking care of children and waiting on men all the time," Cassie said with a suddenly large amount of venom, causing Gage to back off a bit.

"Then again, maybe I didn't get through your thick skull," Gage groaned, smacking his forehead.

"Yeah, that's right. You didn't make an impression at all," Cassie sniffed.

Gage gritted his teeth, his jaw muscles tensing as he glared at Cassie.

A moment of awkward silence passed before Cassie quietly spoke, "Gage?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you please put your shirt back on?"

* * *

**Finally, I sense weakness in Cassie! Yay! **

**Let me know what you all think of this chapter. It is by far one of my favorites as of yet!**

**Remember, I 'dig' kind comments, compliments, and constructive criticism ;)**

**~Face**


	7. Terrorize

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Universal's Emergency**

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_Terrorize_

Cassie assumed that Gage's insubordination was through for good after their fight in the locker room, but it was far from being over. Gage had discovered that she had a discomfort around men at the same time of wanting to dominate them.

Every time she would start a libbest spiel, Gage would be right there, saying or doing something that terrorized the life out of her.

On the same day as the locker room incident, Gage, DeSoto, and Kelly were all sitting in the day-room section of the kitchen. Cassie sat with them, quietly writing down the rough draft for her column.

Gage lifted his eyes from his magazine after a while and addressed Cassie, "So, do you want us to proofread the first few lines from your column?"

"No, I do not. You can read it when it is published," snapped Cassie.

Gage stood up and swiped the paper from her fingers, procuring an enraged squawk from Cassie.

Gage held it at arm's length, cleared his throat and began to read with a mocking tone, "It is the belief that men are the dominant gender of our times. They are said to be more tough and intelligent than the women. But the members at Station 51 show men's true colors-"

"Stop!" Cassie yelped and pulled it back.

"Aren't you proud about what you wrote?" Gage sneered.

"John, cut it out," Chet complained, attempting to concentrate on the sports section of the newspaper.

"I just want to know what things were going to be said about us in the column," Gage huffed, going back to sit down.

"You know the penalty for misandry, Roland," Gage muttered.

Cassie's eyes snapped up from her paper with a light of panic. Gage sauntered over to Chet and crossed his arms.

"So, I hear you went to a strip joint the other day, Chet," Gage started, "Do you want to tell us about it?"

Kelly's eyes came to life with a disgusting spark and he eagerly nodded.

"Johnny..." DeSoto gently warned.

Gage ignored DeSoto and leaned forward with false interest as he prodded, "Tell me everything, Chet."

"Well, I get there with a friend of mine, and we check out these girls. Let me tell you, these ladies were stacked! We sat down at a table, and this one brunette begins to sing at the microphone. She gets deeper into the song and starts getting wild, if you know what I mean. Anyway-"

All of a sudden, DeSoto cleared his throat in an unnaturally loud manner. All the guys turned their heads towards him in annoyance. Gage glanced over at Cassie and stifled a laugh to see her face a few shades lighter than a tomato.

Gage jumped up jovially and slid behind Cassie's chair and gave her a few friendly thumps on the back.

"Let that be a lesson to you," Gage laughed and pulled playfully at Cassie's blonde hair.

Cassie slapped his hand away and growled, "You guys are a bunch of jerks."

She huffed, standing to race towards the door and out into the garage. She walked up next to the squad and sat down on the back bumper, letting her shoulders sag against the red frame.

_"What's the matter with you, Cassie?" _she thought to herself as she looked at her trembling fingers.

But she knew exactly what was wrong with herself. The true facts of why she hated men so much slowly weighed down on her mind.

She was scared. In fact, she was deathly frightened and she knew the reason why.

* * *

**Hey everyone. Sorry for the cliffhanger and shortness of this chapter, but I had a sudden idea for a mini plot. **

**Anyway, there are some things changing around my place. I work in a horseback riding lesson barn and I just got offered a job in the barn's office, on top of continuing to work in the barn with the horses. This means I'll be doing job that is almost full-time and I'm only 18 years old. XD I do love this story so much and I will not stop writing it until I've completed it. It will probably just take me a little longer than I originally thought it would. I can't put out a chapter every day, like I'd assumed I would.**

**Thanks for reviewing! Remember that kind comment, compliments, and constructive criticism are always welcomed. I love hearing from you guys! You are the greatest! I especialy want to thank Kelmin for being such a faithful reader and a great person to point out my spelling mistakes so I can change them! I appreciate that so much! **

**~Face**


	8. Reason

**Disclaimer: I don't know own Universal's Emergency!**

Reason

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_

_Ten Years Earlier_

Cassie sat quietly in her room, writing out her math problems for school the next morning. It seemed as if no matter how hard she tried, the math concept couldn't stick her in brain.

She sighed and rested her chin on her fist as she again attempted to make sense out of her homework.

"Cassie!" she heard a skin-crawling voice shout.

"Y-Yeah, Dad," Cassie responded her pencil quivering in her hand.

Her father busted into the room and hollored, "You useless bitch! What did you do with it?"

"Do with what?" Cassie inquired, carefully easing herself out of her desk chair and backed away, refusing to make eye contact.

"You know what! My beer! I'm having friends over tonight and you know it! You hid that beer on purpose!""

"Oh, please, Dad!" Cassie pleaded, "Don't let you friends come over again! They'll-

Cassie was silenced by her father seizing her roughly by the arm.

"Listen to me, girl. If you don't show me were that beer is, I'll make you wish that you were never born," Cassie's father hissed.

Cassie looked up into his spiteful brown eyes and replied calmly, "I wouldn't give you that stuff, even if you killed me."

"Don't worry!" her father gave Cassie a savage slap on the face, "I'm not going to let you off that easy!"

Her father swivelled around and stalked towards the door.

"I'll go out and buy some more beer," he crowed, then slammed the door behind him.

Cassie crumpled to the ground and sobbed, knowing very well that her father would keep his word.

-x-

Two hours later, the downstairs was full of drunken men. They howled with laughter and cursed loudly, using the most profane words possible.

Cassie tried not to listen to them, but she head one of the men talking about a woman he'd taken advantage of the previous night.

He yelled in a victorious voice, "I'm telling you, this girl was just the most willing creature. She laid there so still while I-"

Cassie slapped her hands over her ears in disgust, trying her hardest to mute the terrible story.

After she was sure that he'd finished, she slid her hands away from her ears and attempted to finish her homework.

Cassie's eyes snapped open when she heard her father say, "If you like blondes, you should try my daughter."

Cassie sucked in her breath.

"How old is that kid of yours?" the man who was previously telling the story about his intercourse.

"12."

"Perfect..." the man growled, "How about we play a game of poker, bid against us with your daughter's body. Whoever wins takes all the bids, including your daughter, and gets to head upstairs and bed her right after the game."

"Deal!" Cassie's father agreed without hesitation.

"No..." Cassie whispered, tears filling her eyes.

Then she got an idea. Her deceased mother's sister had always offered her a place to live. The only reason Cassie never moved in with her was because she tried to give her father the benefit of the doubt. She'd forgiven him time and time again, and gave him a million second chances. But this was too much to forgive. She was through.

-x-

After the game, the man who'd suggested such a poker round bid came upstairs and went into Cassie's room. At first, he didn't see her and he called, "Come here, sweetheart! Let's have a little fun!"

But Cassie was nowhere to be found.

In his drunken state, the man stumbled out of the room, not even noticing the note that lay on Cassie's desk:

_Dad, _

_I tried to give you a chance, but I can go through another night like this. I've called the children protection agency on you and I've gone to live with mom's sister until I'm old enough to support myself. _

_-Cassie_

_

* * *

_

Ever since that night when Cassie ran away, she'd hated men. She assumed all of them had a streak in them like her father had. She assumed all men were piggish, rude, proud, and conceited. It had never occurred to her that some men could be different than her father. She'd never seen anything that could make her think otherwise.

So, she went on living with her aunt's family for many years, coming to think of them as her real family. Her aunt and uncle were her mother and father and their daughter was Cassie's sister.

When she turned 18, she moved away into an apartment. She got a job as a writer for the magazine, Harper. Her editor had seen her write a feminist column in a small newspaper and instantly saw potential. He immediately gave her a job, doing a weekly criticism column against men.

Since that day, she'd gone from place to place, getting stories for women's lib.

* * *

Cassie gave a start from her position on the truck when the alarm when off in the station.

She looked up at the speaker as the dispatcher said, "Station 51, Station 38, Battalion 9, Station 19. Structure fire. 1482 East Lakewood Boulevard. Time out 0900."

The station burst into a flurry of movement and Cassie watched as Gage and DeSoto barrelled towards the squad.

Gage stopped before he got into the cab and called out to Cassie, "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I am..." Cassie responded and jumped into the middle of the squad's cab.

The squad took off, sirens blasting as they headed to another emergency.

* * *

**Hey, thanks for the reviews! I didn't expect to get another chapter up this quickly, but I took a notepad with me and wrote it on the way to our church, which is about 20 minutes away. When I got home I revised it, and I finished it rather fast. **

**On this chapter, I just want to let something be known. It may be something you don't know about me. I don't cuss. I'm a fan of the english language and I find it rather idiotic to use profanity as a filler for words that could be chosen more wisely. But, I am not someone who won't put cursing into a story just because I do not fancy the words. Sometimes if helps things seem a lot more realistic. In this chapter, I have Cassie's drunkard father curse. Why? Because if he didn't, he character would be hard to believe. I'm just letting you know!**

**As usual, kind comments, compliments, and constructive criticism are welcomed!**

**~Face**

**p.s. When the dispatcher mentioned the batallions and stations, I wasn't sure if they were accurately canon. If they weren't, please notify me over PM and I'll fix it.**


	9. Protection

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Universal's Emergency!**

* * *

_Protection_

Cassie stood before the unbelievably large-scale fire, feeling like an ant next to the huge flaming factory. Around her, firemen and paramedics alike dashed about, trying their hardest to put out the fire.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to the masked face of John Gage.

She scowled as he said, "Stay close to the squad, it's safer there."

"None of the men seemed to be concerned for their safety. Why should I?" Cassie retorted, crossing her arms.

She saw Gage's brown eyes roll and he brushed past her, making his way towards the burning building.

Cassie watched the fire for a few more minutes, then began to get bored. She paced back and forth between the squad and one of the pumper trucks, but this still did not appease her boredom. Cassie's eyes drifted to the windows of the burning factory and she gasped when she saw someone moving around on the second floor. It wasn't a fireman, but just a victim of the fire. He looked as if he was struggling to stand up and he continued to uselessly slap his hand against the window pane.

_"This is my chance!"_ thought Cassie excitedly,_ "If I go in and rescue that man, the guys will notice and I'll be a hero! This would be a perfect stand for the female rights!" _

Cassie passed the pumper truck and watched to make sure no one was looking, then made a mad dash for entrance.

The heat was almost unbearable, but Cassie stuck to her goal and walked up the steps and began to look for the room in which she'd seen the man. She found a door closest to the side of the building she'd seen him on and opened the door.

Indeed, there was a man on the inside, but the room was almost completely in flames. Cassie screwed up her courage and got low to the ground and crawled in.

Smoke filled her lungs and she choked and gagged as she neared the victim.

"Help me!" the man called out to her.

Cassie came close to him and said through her coughing, "I'm here to help!"

The man did a double-take and said, "I can't move my legs! A cabinet fell on them. A buddy of mine helped me get out, but he didn't make it very far."

The man nodded to a body that lay across the room, the flesh being seared as the flames licked the dead body.

Cassie cringed and the man continued, "So, you are a woman! How do you expect to get me out if he couldn't?"

"I . . ." Cassie was at a loss for words, "I don't know . . . I'm going to try my hardest to get you out, though."

"Is your hardest the equal to a man's hardest?" the victim asked.

"Well, do you want to be helped or not?" Cassie snapped

"I guess a woman is better than nothing," the man said, "How do you propose we get out of here?"

"Well-" suddenly, there was a crash and rumbling.

Cassie looked around in fear. She yelped when she saw an object falling towards her and the man.

"It's one of them cabinets again! Run!" the man shouted.

Cassie tried to do as she was told, but the cabinet was already open them. She closed her eyes and blindly moved in attempt to avoid most of the huge metal object.

The cabinet still crashed down on her left arm, pinning it at just below the elbow. The pain was excruciating and Cassie couldn't help but let out a strangled scream.

Cassie opened her watering eyes and she saw that not only was her arm caught and probably crushed, but the man she'd tryed to save was underneath the cabinet as well. Almost his entire body was caught. All that showed on the side that Cassie was on was his prostrate arms, shoulders and head. Blood leaked out of his mouth and ears

"Oh my God . . ." Cassie said, tears from fear and sadness replacing ones of pain, "I killed him!"

Guilt swept over her as she uselessly tried to lift the cabinet off her arm. The man under the cabinet helped relieve some of the pressure off her arm, so she assumed that the arm wasn't completely mutilated. It might have a chance of being reconstructed . . if she could get out.

Cassie suddenly became painful aware of the flames that were nearing her and the crushed man. She realized that if she wasn't rescued within the next few minutes, she was going to be burned alive.

Cassie tried desperately to yank her arm out from under the cabinet, but it was stuck tight. There was now only one alternative.

"Johnny! Roy! Anyone! Please help me! Help!" screamed Cassie.

She continued to yell for exactly two minutes, but the fire was so close that Cassie's body was drenched in sweat and she was almost overcome by heat and smoke.

"Roy . . . Johnny . . . " Cassie choked for the last time, laying her head head weakly on the the floor as the fire came close.

She tried to tell herself that a woman could get out of this mess by herself. She didn't need a man's help. But the only thing she could think at that moment was how much she wished that she had a man to protect then . . .

* * *

**A word from Face: Hey guys! I'm back! I know it's been forever, but a lot has changed. I graduated this past Sunday and started EMT-Basic training in college the day after I graduated XD I'm loving it so far!**

**Sorry about the cliff-hanger! I know that most people that have zero ideas for their stories put cliff-hangers, but really, I know exactly what is next in the story :) I won't be posting the next chapter too long from now. Enjoy this chapter, though!**

**Remember that kind comments compliments and constuctive critisism are welcomed!**


	10. Realization

**All rights belong to Universal's Emergency!**

* * *

Realization

"Cassie?"

Cassie hardly responded as she felt something smack her cheek a few times. She felt as if she was in a dream state. She had no idea how long she was out, but she still felt gagged by the smoke and weak from the extreme heat.

"She's alive, but really disoriented!" she heard a voice call out.

"Johnny…is that you?" she wheezed, not opening her eyes.

"Yeah, it's me, Cassie. We're going to get you out of here, I promise. Take this and breathe in deeply," Gage responded gently, settling his breath mask over her face.

She held it in place with a shaky hand as she felt Gage lift the cabinet off her arm, then hoist her up to drape over his shoulder.

"We'll have you out of here in no time, okay?" he called to her.

"What about . . . the man under the cabinet?" gasped Cassie.

"Let's just worry about taking care of you first," Gage responded, weaving around burning objects to make it out of the room, then the building.

Cassie was never so glad to be outside. The cool air slowly returned her body temperature to normal.

Gage carried her a good distance away from the fire to the squad and set her down on a blanket that had been laid out on the concrete for victims.

Gage knelt down next to her and removed his mask from Cassie's face, putting an oxygen mask in its place.

"Let me take a look at that arm," muttered Gage, tenderly examining the extent of the damage.

"That man was dead, wasn't he?" Cassie breathed after a moment of silence.

Gage only glanced up at her for a second, and then somberly replied, "Yes…"

"He wouldn't have been dead if I hadn't meddled," Cassie whispered, tears filling her eyes.

"You can't know that for sure," answered Gage, putting a splint on Cassie's arm.

"But I still feel like it was my fault…I needed…help. I should have asked for it," cried Cassie.

Gage stopped what he was doing and looked up, brown eyes scanning her face to read her emotions.

"I didn't know what to do, I couldn't have saved him!" Cassie exclaimed, leaning forward and throwing her good arm around Johnny's neck.

Gage was still for a second, and then he relaxed and put his hand on the small of her back, and said, "You don't have to have it all together every moment of the day, Cassie. You can believe that women can do a lot, even some things as well as men, and still have days where you need help. We as humans should always be there to protect and assist one another. If no man ever said it before, I'll say it: I'm weak. Everyone is weak in some way or another. Men and women help each other out through their weaknesses. We should be thinking more of how we can help the other, no matter the gender, rather than fighting over which is the weaker sex."

Cassie sobbed into Johnny's shoulder, feeling as if all her strength as a women's lib columnist had been sucked away. She was left vulnerable, to be protected by the man she fought so hard against. But everything he was saying…he wasn't a jerk as Cassie thought. He wasn't arrogant; he had logical views of the human race. And it was then she realized…she was the one who was being a jerk all this time.

"I'm sorry…I've been acting so terribly…" sniffled Cassie.

Gage eased Cassie back on the tarp and replied, "You know the stupid thing? You are strong, and I don't doubt if you went through the firefighting program, you could make it."

Cassie chuckled, "Thanks, but I think I'll leave that kind of work to men. Not saying that some women aren't capable of firefighting…I just think it's time I learned my own personal boundaries."

Gage grinned, "Now you're starting to actually make sense."

For a moment they both just laughed, then Roy walked up and asked in a worried voice, "What happened? That's the first time I've ever seen you two smile while looking at each other!"

"Let's just say we had a little man-to-man talk," Gage answered, winking at Cassie.

Roy stared at them blankly for a moment, then reached over to pull the biophone close, "Well, since you had a talk with one another, is it all right with you if we connect to Rampart and get her to the hospital."

"Sounds good," Gage replied, then went back to looking over Cassie's arm and taking vital signs.

Cassie watched the two work diligently on her. She merely observed them, not saying a word. Somehow, her time in the burning building seemed to clear her view of them a little bit. She felt awful about coming into their lives and poking fun at their male weaknesses. No wonder the reacted so badly to her arrival, she would feel the same way if a man came into her line of work and told her that his gender could do it better. What was she thinking? Of course, she still felt the same about disbanding women discrimination, but she now could see that men were equally is wonderful as women were.

Cassie recalled Dixie talking about how heroic Johnny and Roy were. Before, she had spat on the title 'hero' for either of them. Now, she could think of no other way to describe them.

* * *

**Hey, guys! I am so excited to finish up this story! I plan on only doing one more chapter, but maybe I'll think about doing a sequel, if a good storyline comes to my attention! Thanks for reading this, reviewers, and thank you for all your patience while I spent a year not writing anything :'(**

**And as always, constructive criticism and compliments are welcome!**

**~Face**


	11. Departure

**All rights belong to Universal's Emergency!**

* * *

Departure

Cassie strolled out of the hospital a day after the fire, inhaling the clean, smokeless air. He arm was in a cast, but her spirits were very high. They soared even higher when she saw the big, red squad backing into the parking lot.

Johnny and Roy exited the squad and they both smiled when they spotted Cassie.

"Hey, we were just coming to check on you! Are you free to go?" asked Johnny.

"Yeah, I just got released a few minutes back," Cassie replied, walking up to them.

"How do you feel?" inquired Roy.

"Just a broken elbow and some bumps and bruises, so I feel a bit sore, but I'll be as right as rain a few weeks."

"That's great!" Roy exclaimed.

Cassie smiled, but it faded after a moment and she added, "Again, I'm really sorry about the crummy time I gave you two these past few days."

"Forget about it," Roy said, waving his hand passively in the air.

"I honestly was under the impression that all men were pigs. All the men I've known have been less than ideal."

"You'll find that most of us are just rather oblivious to life, but not pigs," chuckled Roy.

"I'm glad that you finally realized that though. I was beginning to develop a complex," sighed Johnny, looking off sadly into the distance.

Cassie rolled her eyes, but laughed.

"Well, I sadly have to go home and do quite a bit of thinking about this column before I submit it. I have no idea what I'm going to write," sighed Cassie.

"If it makes it easier on you, you could just put down what you originally thought you would. You could keep up your women's lib appearance," Johnny suggested.

"No, no. I've had my eyes opened on this jaunt with you two. I think some things need to be addressed with women everywhere. If anyone looks up to me for my views on life, I could open their eyes as well. Thank you guys so much for everything. You've really changed things."

Cassie walked up to them and gave each of them a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll never forget you," Cassie said with a grin, turning to walk towards the car that the fire department had left there for her earlier.

"Hey, now, keep in touch! And send us a clipping of that magazine if all turns out okay!" Johnny called after her.

"I will! Bye!" Cassie yelled back, getting into her car.

"Do you think she'll write something nice, or really go back to her old ways?" Roy asked Johnny.

Johnny shrugged, "Hopefully she really did have her eyes opened here."

* * *

**Yay, bonus chapter up next! Remember, constructive criticism and compliments are always welcomed! ~Face**


	12. Conclusion

**All rights belong to Universal's Emergency!**

* * *

Conclusion

"Mail's here!" announced Johnny, walking into the kitchen and throwing a stack of envelopes on the table.

Roy looked up from his newspaper and asked, "Anything for me?"

Johnny sifted through the envelopes and scowled, "Yeah, there is one to you and me in here."

Johnny plucked up the letter and looked at the return address.

"Hey, remember that women's lib columnist, Cassie Roland, that girl who came to Station 51 about a year and a half ago?" Johnny inquired.

"Yeah, did she finally decide to send us that clipping?" Roy asked.

"I don't know…" Johnny murmured, opening the letter and reading its contents.

Roy let down the newspaper and watched his partner's jaw drop.

"What is it?" inquired Roy.

"I don't believe it! This is incredible!" exclaimed Johnny, sitting down next to Roy.

"Well, what does it say?" Roy questioned again.

"It's just absolutely unbelievable!" Johnny cried out again.

"Gage!" Roy barked in the authoritative voice that always made Johnny snap-to and listen to what he was saying.

"What?" Johnny inquired, looking alarmed.

"Maybe you'd like to read the letter so you can share with your old friend just what is so incredible and unbelievable," Roy told him.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Well, listen to this: 'To my two favorite paramedics, I'm really sorry I didn't get a hold of you as soon as I submitted my story so long ago. You'd be surprised how much my life has changed. And it's all thanks to you. Exactly 24 hours after I left you back at Rampart I gave the story to my editor. As always, the slacker hardly even read the paper before putting it in the magazine. He sure was surprised when he found out the following week that his 'women's lib' column had a different feel to it. I wrote about my dealings with Station 51, from beginning to end. And the response was amazing. Women from all over began asking me, of all people, for advice on marriages and relationships that were going sour. They said they trusted my judgment most, because of any column they'd ever read, they'd never seen someone so able to see both sides like that. They said my perspective of men and women were so equal, clear, and open-minded, they felt like I was the correct person to ask. So, my editor urged me to do a 'Dear Abby' type of column. Well, let me tell you that it escalated so much that even I was surprised by the popularity. I then decided to get an agent, now my husband, to help me start-up some conferences on marital help. I now travel all over the US with my husband, guiding couples of all ages in how to make their relationships work better. And, like I said, it was all thanks to you. You're the greatest! I told you I'd never forget you, and I haven't. So, if you are willing, I'd like you to come to one of the conferences to be introduced to my audience this upcoming month. I'll be in Los Angeles and as soon as I get there, I'm coming to see you! I hope you'll write back and I pray that you'll agree to come to my conference. Love, Cassie Roland-Barton.'"

Roy's eyes widened, "You're right, Johnny. That's incredible."

"Exactly…so are you going to go to that conference of hers?"

"Sounds interesting, and I definitely want to see her. But I wonder if she's become crazy about this job, just like she did with the women's lib column," Roy murmured.

"Well, what so bad about wanting to help relationships go smoother? Really, what's the worst that could happen?" Johnny replied, standing up to leave the room.

"I wish you hadn't said that…" sighed Roy, standing up and muttering, "With this girl, I think anything is possible."

* * *

**I can't believe I finished it! Haha! Well, as you can see, I left the end open for another story. Shall I continue this, or just quit while I'm ahead. It's up to my reviewers! Thanks so much for you loyal Emergency! fans that stuck with me even while Iw as on writer's block! You've been 'incredible!' as Johnny would say.**

**As always, constructive criticism and compliments are welcomed!**

**~Face**


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